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Theory and Definition of Tragedy

The definition of a literary genre is always problematic.
Description of specific examples often slides into prescription of
what the genre should be like in a rather circular attempt to
measure how well those examples adhere to an ideal. In the case of
tragedy, this is because theoretical writing has often stemmed from
a need to defend theatre from the charge that it is an inherently
immoral activity. Such attacks have been commonplace for as long as
theatre has existed, partly because theatre so obviously brings to
life in the person of the actor a mere fiction (even a “lie”), or a
shadow of reality (see Plato Republic 595c, 598d, 605c-d,
607a, 602 b); partly because this …

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